A maths teacher in Nashville has been suspended after a violent outburst in
his classroom in which he overturned desks, slammed chairs and shouted at
pupils who had been laughing at him.

In video taken from a student's cell phone, which was posted on the video sharing website YouTube, Donald Wood is shown at first telling the students to be quiet.

He then exploded into a tirade, turning over desks and slamming chairs.

Students could also been seen in the video, running from the classroom and screaming.

"I heard that everyone was playing around, and then he started to get a little madder, and then he just snapped, started throwing chairs, on fire, screaming out of control," one student at McGavock High School told News 2 in Nashville. No students were injured.

Officials said it took a non-teaching member of staff to subdue Mr Wood, who was removed from the school by ambulance.

Related Articles

In a statement, the school district said: "We are concerned by an incident involving a McGavock High School teacher on Friday morning, October 8, 2010. The teacher was removed from the school and will be placed on administrative leave pending further investigation."

Mr Wood had reportedly taught at McGavock High School for more than five years. Robbin Wall, the head teacher, said he had seen nothing comparable during three decades in the profession.

Parents were shocked when they heard about the outburst and saw the video.

Barbara Fisher, who has two children at the school both previously taught by Mr Wood, said: "He has not ever been known to have done anything like this before," she said. "He is known to usually have things together."

Mrs Fisher said McGavock is known for having disciplinary problems among students, but she said the school was trying its best to resolve those issues.

"I am really not sure where the blame really lies. The students were egging him on but he didn't know how to handle it," she said.